John R Ecob

“The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away;
blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21-22).

The Lord gave and He took away;
I know it’s true, but hard to say.
Why would God add, and then subtract?
It seems all wrong but still a fact.

Job lost his sons and daughters too;
Their house collapsed as strong winds blew.
His sheep and shepherds burned with fire;
Not one they lit, but from up higher.

The Sabeans took his ox that plowed;
Before his crops were sown or flowered.
The servants brave had all been slain;
Their bodies in the furrows lain.

Then from the north the Chaldeans came
To steal the camels was their aim;
So Job was left with all but naught
Except his friends with whom he wrought.

His wife, deprived of all she had,
Was not content to just be sad.
She turned on Job whose health had fled,
And left him on an ashes bed.

What more could God from Job remove
To test his faith, his true love prove?
But even when his wife accused,
To curse his God he still refused.

God took away from this great man
The things He gave, it was His plan;
To prove to one who could not bear
To see Job blessed for faith so rare.

For even in the midst of strife
Rejected by his friends and wife
This man looked forward to the day
When Christ would come in bright array.

The test God sent will then seem small
For from the grave he’s heard God’s call.
His flesh is now restored and clean
And in the latter days be seen.

We know that Job survived the test
And in this world again was blessed;
He prayed for those who spoke in spite
And lived in peace with great delight.

I know that my Redeemer lives;
He took away, but now He gives
Far more than I could ever lose;
To change the plan, I would not choose.

“But I would ye should understand, brethren,
that the things which happened unto me
have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;
So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace,
and in all other places;
And many of the brethren in the Lord,
waxing confident by my bonds,
are much more bold
to speak the word without fear”
(Phil.1:12-14).